Mmm Pot Pie

When my family left, they left behind a refrigerator full of random food.  Adam and I have been attempting to eat these left overs for lunch, but last night I decided to to make a meal and us my new pie plates.  I got home around 545 and got started on Chicken Pot Pie from a recipe in my Dinners on a Dime cookbook.  Luckily I had all the ingredients except one, the frozen pie shells. So I made my own using my food processor; which I found out makes it just as easy as opening a box, tearing the plastic wrap and unrolling a Pillsbury one!

I started with the potatoes, we had four left and the recipe said 2 cups…so I peeled them all only to find out that that would make 4 cups. Oops-oh well extra potatoes! Then it was on to the carrots.  Nick had bought a bag of vegetable snacks so I picked out all the carrots and sure enough I had the required 1-2/3rd’s cup.

Into the water they went to boil.  I found some celery in the crisper and decided to add that even though it wasn’t on the recipe.  I’ve realized recently that celery adds a great flavor to food when cooked.  After that I chopped up my 2/3ds cup onion and sautéed it in a saucepan with….1 cup of butter!! yikes.  I added the celery then a mixture of flour, salt, pepper and some dill. (I found out we didn’t have any sage. Who took my sage?!?!)  Next was the 3 cups of chicken broth and over a cup of milk (whole-thanks to my family!) and a cup each of frozen peas and corn.  It all began to boil and thicken.  I quickly realized that my pan was full and there was no way I would be able to add the rest of the vegetables.  Luckily my potatoes and carrots were in my biggest mixing bowl; which was starting to look small.

My mom had bought some cans of chicken for chicken salad.  I was wearing about her leaving it.  I told her “Take it, I’ll never eat it”  something about chicken in a can grossed me out.  But she left it and I’m glad because I opened up 3 large  cans and used it as the meat for our pie! Mixing all the ingredients I realized I had a TON of filling! then I read the next step, about putting it in the shell. 

Oh.

The recipe makes 2 TWO pot pies.

Talk about left overs.

I roll out my pie shells and fill up the 1st one covering it nicely and even cutting out the decorative shapes.  Into the oven it goes @ 425 for …. 45 minutes.  Adam is home by now, taking down Christmas ornaments and it’s 7 o’clock.  So much for eating on time. 

I finished up the 2nd pie and stuck it into the freezer just in time pull our dinner out.  And let me tell you. It smelled great. It looked perfect and we were starving.

It was soooo good. So good, I literally patted myself on the back AND I got a “you did good” from Adam! That never happens! Good thing we have a whole one in the freezer and a half pie left-over. LUNCH!

This was the 1st time we had sat down, just the two of us, for a real meal in a long time.  I miss that and hopefully between our busy schedules we can do this at least once a week.  I enjoy cooking and feel that with each new recipe I try I’m adding to the repertoire I will someday make for our family….someday.